Philips Hue Sync for Mac and Windows gives you a ‘visual surround sound’ experience or movies, games and more

As smart home enthusiasts know Philips Hue is one of the better solutions out there, and if you’re a media junkie it’s about to get a bit cooler with Philips Hue Sync, a new Windows and Mac app that gives you a ‘visual surround sound’ like experience using your multi-coloured Hue lights.

The app runs alongside the Philips Hue app and works on any Windows 10 or macOS (Sierra and later) computer, and gives you a visual addition to any gaming, movie or audio experience by matching colours of what you’re seeing on the screen and projects that through your Philips Hue lights. The effect can be seen by say mimicing the explosions on your screen or bathing your living room in the same violet, yellow and orange hues of a sunset on-screen.

Jasper Vervoort, Head of Marketing and Product Management, Home Systems and Luminaires at Signify – that’s the company that Philips Lighting is now known as – said of the new app

From our experience with entertainment pilots, we’ve refined the way lighting may be used with games, music and video to engage people. Hue Sync offers a unique way to simply match light effects to consumer’s content in a fast and synchronized way. By working with leading players in the entertainment industry we go even further. The premiere video from Disney’s DCappella band, ‘Immortals’ demonstrates the perfect sync between the colourful video and the immersive capabilities of Hue Sync.

While it’s a Windows and Mac app, it’s relevant to us here at Ausdroid because it also works when you Chromecast content from your computer to the Television. For other users, they can also stream content played on the computer via AirPlay to an Apple TV, or through Miracast and HDMI.

The app offers several layers of immersion, so you can go from subtle, through to moderate, high and all the way up to intense, depending on how you’re feeling. For audio users, the app also offers different colour palettes that pair with different music genres – e.g ‘subtle pastel colours play nicely with ambient tunes while brighter, bolder tones go better with rock and dance music’.

Daniel Tyson Ausdroid's Editor in Chief

Dan is a die-hard Android fan. Some might even call him a lunatic. He's been an Android user since Android was a thing, and if there's a phone that's run Android, chances are he owns it (his Nexus collection is second-to-none) or has used it.

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